Anesthesiologists are now regularly involved with cardiopulmonany resuscitation, trauma and organ transplantation procedures, and with maintenance of patient bodily functions during trauma and organ transplantation operations. During trauma and organ transplantation operations, patient blood loss cannot, practically speaking, be contained by the operating surgeon and must be replaced by the anesthesiologists standing in attendance. In fact, it is not uncommon for four to five anesthesiologists to stand in attendance during transplant operations lasting more than twenty-four hours attempting to infuse massive quantities of blood through five or six venous catheters pumping blood using equipment such as intravenous drip bags, piston syringes and high pressure infusion bags.
Clinical records obtained from actual operations involving trauma and liver transplantations reveal blood losses estimated to be in excess of two hundred and fifty liters, a volume approximately fifty times a normal adult's total blood volume. Although it is not uncommon for an anesthesiologist or trauma surgeon to encounter massive exsanguination (ten liters and more) in a major trauma and transplantation center, it is, however, unusual to successfully resuscitate a patient with such massive blood volume loss with traditional infusion methods.
As summarized in the table below, traditional methods of physiologic fluid administration have inherent limitations as to fluid flow rate which in turn require multiple anesthesiologists to stand in attendance to deliver a desired fluid flow rate to the patient. The data there presented represents experimental results obtained in March, 1983 at The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology Laboratory. All physiologic fluid was delivered through a ten gage catheter. The fluid consisted of a mixture of packed red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma and normal saline. The mixtures were all passed through conventional blood warmers and blood filters in the first three methods of administration and through the rapid venous infusion device of the invention in the fourth, which has its own blood filter and blood warmer.
______________________________________ Anesthesiologists Peak Line And/or Intravenous Method of Pressure Fluid Flow Systems Needed to Administration (mmHg.) (cc/min) Deliver 1500 cc/min ______________________________________ Intravenous 5 20 75 drip 50 cc piston 500 130 11.5 syringe High Pressure 10 130 11.5 Infusion Bag (blood pressure cuff) Rapid Infusion 300 1500 1 System of the Invention ______________________________________
Although apparatus and components for fluid infusion are described in the prior art, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,731,679; 3,990,444; 4,138,288; 4,178,927; 4,210,138; 4,217,993; and 4,256,437 no system now exists which permits high volumes of a physiologic fluid, such as blood, to be successfully infused into the venous system of a patient.
A rapid, venous infusion system has now been invented which permits high volumes of physiologic fluids, such as blood, to be successfully infused. Routine fluid volumes in excess of 100 liters, and even in excess of 250 liters, have been infused with the system during trauma and transplantation operations without the mental stress and physical exhaustion encountered with traditional fluid administration methods and may even be administered by a single anesthesiologist.